Afternooon Silliness

I can’t decide whether or not to take this justification from the woman who is auctioning off her virginity seriously. Whatever your opinion of the idea itself, the piece is made more irritating by the author dressing up the stunt as some sort of high-minded comment on our sexual norms:

When I put my virginity up for auction in September, it was in part a sociological experiment—I wanted to study the public's response. Now it seems that the tables have turned, and the public is studying me.

Later:

Like most little girls, I was raised to believe that virginity is a sacred gift a woman should reserve for just the right man. But college taught me that this concept is just a tool to keep the status quo intact. Deflowering is historically oppressive—early European marriages began with a dowry, in which a father would sell his virginal rdaughter to the man whose family could offer the most agricultural wealth. Dads were basically their daughters’ pimps.

When I learned this, it became apparent to me that idealized virginity is just a tool to keep women in their place. But then I realized something else: if virginity is considered that valuable, what’s to stop me from benefiting from that? It is mine, after all. And the value of my chastity is one level on which men cannot compete with me. I decided to flip the equation, and turn my virginity into something that allows me to gain power and opportunity from men. I took the ancient notion that a woman’s virginity is priceless and used it as a vehicle for capitalism.

Finally:

One conclusion my experiment has already borne out is that society isn’t ready for public auctions like mine—yet.

On behalf of "society," I'd like to say that it’s odd to be made to feel like an unenlightnened prude by a 22-year-old virgin.

Also, if The Onion has not yet run a story about someone auctioning off the opportunity to be his or her 43rd partner, or selling backseat oral sex outside of a dive bar online, now seems like the perfect time.